Vulcan Materials and Martin Marietta Materials, in their respective quarterly reports, looked ahead to the rest of the year.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration announced that it has reached a settlement of $211,002 with U.S. Lime Co. in the May 2010 death of a maintenance manager at St. Clair Mine in Marble City, Okla. The settlement involves 39 citations and orders issued in the wake of the accident and during subsequent mine inspections.

The Dodge Momentum Index rose 5.2 percent in April from the previous month, according to McGraw Hill Construction, a division of McGraw Hill Financial. The Momentum Index is a monthly measure of the first (or initial) report for nonresidential building projects in planning, which have been shown to lead construction spending for nonresidential buildings by a full year.

The Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) welcomed the Ontario budget’s proposed investments in infrastructure, such as roads, bridges and public transit.

Despite higher first-quarter revenues and a growing work backlog, Granite Construction reported a loss of 57 cents per share in its most recent quarterly report. The economy and sluggish building climate continue to challenge the publicly owned company, one of the nation’s largest infrastructure contractors and construction-materials producers.

The National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association salutes everyone involved in the transportation industry during National Transportation Week, May 12-18, 2013. This year’s theme, “Transportation – The World is Right Next Door,” should serve as a reminder to all that transportation is a key component in assuring the nation’s economic growth, global competitiveness and freedom of mobility cherished by all Americans.

Vulcan Materials Co. posted a net loss of 42 cents per share in the first quarter of 2013, greater than the prior-year quarter loss of 40 cents per share. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter is a loss of 36 cents per share.

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. announced its results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2013.

Thanks to broad adoption of sustainable construction practices by the asphalt pavement industry, roads are getting greener, conserving natural resources and saving taxpayers money. In 2011 alone, recycling America’s roads saved about 21.2 million barrels of liquid asphalt binder worth some $2.2 billion.

The U.S. Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce announced that construction spending during March 2013 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $856.7 billion, 1.7 percent below the revised February estimate of $871.2 billion. The March figure is 4.8 percent above the March 2012 estimate of $817.8 billion.

Two leading groups tracking federal transportation construction funding and policy issued statements favorable to President Obama’s nomination of Charlotte, N.C., Mayor Anthony Foxx to succeed Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood.

The American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) is adding a key player to its team with the hiring of industry veteran Una Connolly as vice president of safety and environmental compliance.

“The root of the federal Highway Trust Fund’s (HTF) revenue challenge is not an antiquated gas tax or alternative-fueled vehicles dominating the U.S. automobile fleet or improved fuel economy, but a more direct and obvious flaw: the federal motor fuels tax and other highway user fees have not been adjusted for 20 years.”

To celebrate Earth Day, Lafarge North America’s Paulding Cement plant in Paulding, Ohio, mounted a bat shelter in one of the plant’s several wildlife habitat areas.

Caterpillar Inc. reported profit per share of $1.31 in the first quarter of 2013, down from first-quarter 2012 profit per share of $2.37. First-quarter 2013 sales and revenues were $13.210 billion, a decline from $15.981 billion in the first quarter of 2012. Profit was $880 million in the first quarter of 2013, compared with $1.586 billion in the first quarter of 2012.

Cupertino’s Lehigh Southwest Cement Co. has agreed to cut discharges of toxic water pollutants into Permanente Creek, which runs through Los Altos and Mountain View. The company also will restore a damaged section of the creek under the terms of a settlement with the Sierra Club, which had asserted in a lawsuit that Lehigh sent into the creek millions of gallons of polluted quarry water with elevated levels of selenium and other pollutants.

A new report by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association’s (ARTBA) chief economist shows the money invested in transportation construction industry employment and purchases generates $354 billion in annual U.S. economic activity ­– the equivalent of 2.25 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). That’s larger than the annual GDP of 153 nations, including Denmark ($333 billion), Israel ($243 billion) and oil-rich Venezuela ($316 billion).

Effective April 1, 2013, Tetsuji Ohashi assumed the positions of president and chief executive officer of Komatsu Ltd.

New construction starts in March climbed 8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $475.7 billion, it was reported by McGraw-Hill Construction, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies. The gain for total construction in March followed two months of decline, and was led by a strong increase for the nonbuilding construction sector (public works and electric utilities).

Major Obama Administration proposed changes to the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program, “best practices” in alternative dispute resolution, and the impacts of key 2012 legal developments on future infrastructure projects will be among the key topics of discussion during the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) 5th annual “Transportation Construction Law & Regulatory Forum,” scheduled for June 5 in Washington, D.C.